Rethink & Return with Jason Shepperd
ABOUT PODCAST //
Rethink & Return invites followers of Jesus to reimagine the modern church and rediscover the simplicity of the New Testament. Each week, we open God’s Word and have real conversations about what it means to follow Jesus, shepherd His people, and live out the ways of the New Testament. Through honest conversations and biblical teaching, we challenge assumptions, explore decentralized leadership, and return to Christ’s design for His Church.
ABOUT HOST //
Jason Shepperd is the Founder and Lead Pastor of Church Project, a growing movement of House Churches across cities, states, and nations. With decades of ministry and church-planting experience, Jason has championed a decentralized model of leadership that equips ordinary believers to shepherd local communities in simple, biblical ways.
Rethink & Return with Jason Shepperd
Become a Servant of the Gospel (Colossians 1:21-23)
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
This episode covers Colossians 1:21-23, exploring the powerful reality of what it means to be reconciled to God through Jesus. Paul begins by reminding us of the seriousness of our former condition—we were alienated from God, enemies in our minds, and living in evil behavior. But the gospel tells a completely different story: what was once broken has been made right through the physical death of Jesus Christ.
Through Christ, believers are presented holy in God’s sight, without blemish and free from accusation. This reconciliation is not something we accomplish by becoming good enough or convincing God to see us differently. It is the work of Jesus. In a moment, we are made right with God, while for a lifetime we continue becoming more like Christ through His Spirit, His Scriptures, His Church, His grace, and His kindness.
The message also examines what it means to remain established and firm in the faith. Continuing in the faith does not earn our reconciliation; rather, remaining reveals that we have been reconciled. When life becomes confusing, desperate, or unclear, we are called to know the gospel and place our hope in it.
Finally, this passage challenges every believer to confidently know and share the gospel. The gospel is not meant to remain invisible or silent—it is something we have heard and something others need to hear from us. Because the gospel is for everyone, we are called to intentionally move people along in their journey toward Jesus and become servants of the gospel, using every part of our lives to serve its mission.
Additional Resources
- Watch or listen to Past Sermons
- Start With 7 (Daily Audio Devotionals)
- GOOD.GOD.GOSPEL. (How to Have Conversations Toward Salvation)
- Learn about Church Project Network and follow our NEW Instagram (@churchprojectofficial)
- Read this book by Jason: “A Church of House Churches: An Articulated and Applied Ecclesiology”
- Website
Hey, thanks for joining us for the Rethink and Return Podcast. We like to rethink things, return back to Scripture. We rethink a sermon every Sunday. What did it say? Get back into the word. I'm glad to do it with me, Amigo DeVito. Always glad to be here. Oh law. It's good to do it. Let's jump right in. Let's do it. All right, Colossians chapter 1. We're in verse 21 to 23 today. Man, we've gone low and slow in these verses because this is, you know, maybe the richest are among the richest Christology in all of scripture. And we need to know what it's saying. And so there's just no way for me to, I mean, I could spend a month on a verse, yeah, but um we gotta we gotta keep digging down. And when we do, it's just like we just got three verses today.
SPEAKER_03I like your phrase low and slow because they're they're all so rich. Like every one of our podcasts, we've always said, you know, the every line is loaded. There's not anything you can skim over as you're working through these verses. And I'm really I'm really glad for it because I think it we're helping people to think more deeply about their faith.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And about like you said, you used that term today about crafting their Christology. I thought that was fantastic.
SPEAKER_00Well, I appreciate it. Yeah, I mean, uh, you know, Paul's writing Colossians to for all first generation Christians. Right. That's right. And so they had some, they brought something into their Christianity. They brought some worldview, some theology. So Paul's having to separate their Christianity from their stuff, elevate it. And he's doing that by saying, like, the head of our the head of our faith, let's make sure we know who we're following. It's not just another person, another leader. He is glorifying Christ in these verses. And we finish really with this Christology today. He goes into some other things next week, and then some things about the church, but I'm really excited to get into this. And Paul here is talking about what really when we elevate what Jesus did for us, we also need to more fully understand the depth of our depravity. Like, woe is me, man. That's what Isaiah said. The closer we see Christ, the more we see what we were saved from, the depth of our sin. And Paul gets into that in verse 21. Look at what he says. Once you were alienated from God, you were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. Some pretty strong words to describe us right here with God.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Enemies, alienated, and evil.
SPEAKER_03Wow. I mean, and I I like that we're going through it because you can't really know how good the good news is until you understand how bad the bad news is. That's real good. That's right. You gotta really, you know, it's not like, oh, we're just we're good people that God's gonna make better.
SPEAKER_01That's right.
SPEAKER_03Like these words, alienated enemies, and evil behavior, I mean, pretty much put us in a category that we cannot get out of without some help.
SPEAKER_00You're exactly right, Dave. I I think what you said is really important. I mean, Jesus didn't, he's not coming just to make us better, better human beings. I mean, we were lost, man. We were dead. And so, Paul, we were depraved. Paul gets into it right here. He uses some words that we may not think about a whole lot, at least about ourselves. But I think it's important for people too. I mean, I I came to faith at Christ at eight years old. Of course, I've grown. There's I I knew very little then, right? But I came to him with faith like a child, as a child.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And I grew in it. But for people who came to Christ early, or maybe you know, you never got into your phase of selling crack on the corner or whatever, you know, you know, killing people and stuffing them and building testimony, as they say. Exactly. Yeah. I mean, people with a boring testimony. Like you may start to think, uh, Jesus did just make me a little bit better or got me ready for heaven. Words like this are as as relevant to us as they were to anybody who's done the worst thing.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I mean, we were alienated from God, meaning we were cut off. We had no access. I mean, we can't see the existence of aliens through a telescope. If they exist, they're far away. Right. They don't. I digress theologically. We'll talk about it. Yeah, please. Let me just insert this. Yes. Jesus would have had to die for them too. So he would have had to become an alien and die for aliens. Right. And so, yeah, uh anyway, I digress. The word alien, they weren't thinking about that when Paul used this word. Right. He would when he when he said you're aliens, he meant you're a stranger, you're not from here. And then when he said alienated, meaning you're you're you have no access to God. Like we were further away from God than an alien is from this planet. And we just couldn't get to him. We're cut off. And um, I think it's important for us to know like we weren't like almost getting to God, but we we just had a little farther to go and we couldn't get there. No, no, no. However close you think you are, how much however much better you think you were, you know, you're a trillion light years away from God. And right, you know, maybe you're 0.001 less trillion light years from God than somebody else, not true, but you're alienated, right?
SPEAKER_03Estranged. Yeah. I mean, that's a good word. I mean, you think about, you know, I think you mentioned like family members that are, you know, not speaking to each other. That that that kind of separation.
SPEAKER_01That's right.
SPEAKER_03You know, that like we weren't just distant. Like to be separated is one of the descriptions of hell, right? To be that's total separation from the life of God. I mean, that's that's the state that we're living in without Jesus.
SPEAKER_00That's right. Yeah, that's that's it. You can't get more alienated than hell.
SPEAKER_03No, no.
SPEAKER_00And that's where we were headed.
SPEAKER_03Um and then you talked about enemies.
SPEAKER_00Alienated and enemies, yeah. Like um, it's hard for us to think that we are an enemy of God, but that's how we're described. Yeah. Like um, you know, I gave a little illustration of my first enemy that I recollect. But you know, we're we're uh like we were against God. We still don't like his godship over us, his lordship over us, his leadership. We still resist it. Yeah. Even though he's our closest friend. So uh without Jesus, we were absolutely against him. We did not want his rulership in our life. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And I I think that, you know, uh there's there's still traces of that in us when you'd say we there's still moments, I think, where that rises up, we're like, I don't want to do that, or I don't I want to hang on to this the way that I am.
SPEAKER_00Well, all three of these words that he uses, there's still traces of it in it in us. I mean, although it's we it it it is and it will be kind of state. We're in an already is and a will-be state. We already are, we already are uh one in Christ, and then we will be, but we still feel moments of alienation. Like sometimes we're like we feel far off from God. Yeah. The beauty of heaven is none of these three things will there ever be any trace of. Like now we still treat uh God as if he's our enemy by resisting him rather than submitting to him. And the same thing with evil behavior. I mean, there we still have at times desires that we wish we didn't have. Sometimes people make decisions and do things that are evil that they you know feel convicted about later. In heaven, there won't be any access to any of this. Now we have the already, already and the not fully yet, you know.
SPEAKER_03Right, that's right. And then he talked about evil behavior. And I thought, I thought just how you expanded on that because in our day and age, either everyone's evil or no one's evil. You know what I mean? Like the if you have an opponent, you're like, well, that's an evil person. Yeah. Or there's no such thing as evil, like you have this this kind of floating understanding of evil, and like you talked about how you how you resolve that.
SPEAKER_00Well, if you call something evil, it evil has to have a source of its definition, like who decides what evil is? Yeah. And so if it's culture, we just gotta say which one. Because the thing is, we're so myopic in culture. Right. Is it our culture? I mean, we're such a small microcosm of the world. No, they're singing our songs across the world. It's just this moment in time, this place, like what culture gets to decide what is evil or not?
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And is it the 1500s, the 1700s, is it the Stone Age? Is it the Golden Age? Is it the Renaissance Age? Is it the Age of Enlightenment? You know, and is it where is it? Is it France during that age? Is it Africa during one age? Is it America during like who's deciding what's evil? And if you look at all these different cultures, at different times, people were approving of things that we would now call evil or once was called evil that now we don't. Right. Like, there's no way in so much of the world and a lot of history that we wouldn't have called it evil to go into a mother's womb and kill a child that's being knit together. I mean, it's it's it's it's evil. Oh, the things that people do with their bodies. And so I use some verses that here's what God says about a mother's womb, or here's what God says about a human body, and this is what culture says about it. So who's right, who's wrong? And we just have to go. God is the one who gets to decide what is evil and what is righteous.
SPEAKER_03And his definition is unflinching. Like our, you know, we keep having we keep shifting our definition of what you like what you said, but it's God who sets the standard, he defines it, and then nothing breaks that. That's right. He says what's evil, and that's that's it.
SPEAKER_00I agree with that. Yeah, I mean, that's why uh he's immutable, meaning unchangeable. He he is not changing. That's why God's laws are based on his nature, his nature doesn't change. Right. So when God says, Do not murder, it's because he's the author of life. You know, when God says all the Ten Commandments, they're all they're they all go back to being rooted in his nature. Yeah. And he's an unchanging God. And his scripture, he wrote it. And so, yeah, once you're alienated, enemies, evil, thank God for verse 22. Right. But now he has reconciled you by cross physical body through death to present you holy in his sight without blemish and free from accusation. I mean, this is a huge swing. It was all real, real bad, and now it's real, real good. Right. Yeah. And it all the the whole hinge was he reconciled us. Yeah. I mean, I didn't change, he changed me.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's right. I mean, it's a like I circle those words, but now, yeah, you know, that like you said today, something happened between 21 and 22. That's right. And it's the reconciling work of Jesus. I mean, you know, Paul's pointing out, you were these things. Like we you do we do have a past. Yeah. But thanks to Jesus, we're not those things anymore.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. Powerful, man. But now he has reconciled you, which means he he made it, he made it right. He he closed the distance, you know, he went and got me way out there in outer space, far away, couldn't get to him, at the bottom of the ocean, in the in the grave. We could use all the illustrations. He went and got me. Yeah. Yeah. And he he he brought me near. And he reconciled, he made it all right. I didn't get right, he made me right. Yeah. That's what he reconciled. Now he has reconciled us. And then by Christ's physical body. And I I think Paul, well, Paul put this in here to combat the idea of Gnosticism. And the idea of Gnosticism was this a part of the idea of Gnosticism. One of the tenets was this world is broken, that's true. The flesh is corrupt, that's true. Therefore, God couldn't have come here because he would have been corrupted. This is why we have the Immaculate Conception. This is why we have the virgin birth. We didn't have this sinful bloodline passed down to Jesus, but he did step into our sinful world and his physical body. So there was this idea that God couldn't have taken on human flesh. So Paul had to continue to remind these people, Jesus was God with flesh. He was fully God in a human form. And that's why Paul would always insert things like this. Why? I mean, we here were like that, we don't need that. It doesn't seem to fit. But Paul was like, he reconciled you by Christ's physical body. And um, I mean, today we have a lot of modern ideas of this. Like a Muslim would say, There's no way that Jesus is God, that God came in the flesh. Um, a Mormon would say the same thing. He Jesus was not fully God, he was a prophet of God, yes, but he he he did die, yes, but he was not fully God. And so Paul is is saying here, he reconciled us through Christ's physical body through death. And I love the through death. Like he he went, he didn't go all the way to death, he went through it, he got to the other side of it. Yeah, you know, he reconciled us uh through his death. On the other hand, we can all go to death, but we can't go through death, right? But Jesus went to death and through death, yeah, uh that's the resurrection that we believe in.
SPEAKER_03And that's our hope. I mean, you know, we live our life in front of an empty tomb.
SPEAKER_01That's right.
SPEAKER_03That's good. And so I like that you you got these three words in 21, alienated enemies, evil behavior, and then these words that you went through reconciled body without blemish. Yeah. I mean, I love these words uh as we walk through these words. That's right. I love the I love the contrast between these two.
SPEAKER_00Me too. Yeah, through his death. Like, what's the hinge? He reconciled us by cross Christ's body through his death. So we went from enemies, alienated evil to now holy, without blemish, free from accusation. I mean, I I think Paul, I mean, he's the he's the master. So I think he knew what he was doing. Yeah, I do too. Yeah, here's these three things, and now here's these three things. Like you're holy, man. Yeah. You're without blemish and you're free from accusation. And I I love this, uh, you know, Tim Keller said salvation is an immediate change in legal status, like citizenship. You may still have your old accent, your old customs, but you're immediately legally a citizen. And so what God does is like He He immediately makes us holy. Yeah. He immediately makes us without blemish. He immediately makes us free from accusation. But we don't feel that way. We know, man, I'm not. As far as the pure definition of holiness goes, I I don't that's not me yet. Yeah. As far as the pure definition of without blemish goes, not me, as far as free from accusation, you could accuse me of some sinfulness, and I could accuse myself of it, and vice versa. Yeah. I mean, we just, you know, and so this is the way that God sees us. I I said, this is how He sees us now.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And we want to live into that.
SPEAKER_03Exactly. And it made me think, you know, back in the day, uh, we both had a friend that was here and wasn't a citizen. And it took her years to get her citizenship. And uh when she did, we celebrated it. We're like, oh, she got her. And but uh but something was that knowing that her that her citizenship was official, yeah, it it shifted something in her. There was a demeanor and there was a way of thinking, like it does have a lot of impact. Like you said, you do have your same accent or you have your same mannerisms, but to know that my citizenship is official and secure, like I I just I remember that today of how it shifted in her. Like there is no longer, am I in, am I out? Do I belong? Do I not belong? They're like, here you're in.
SPEAKER_00Equally in as much as anyone else.
SPEAKER_03That's right. Immediately. And we gotta, I think we have to learn to think like that. Like I we're a citizen of another kingdom. That's right. That that citizenship is secure.
SPEAKER_00That's right. That's good. Powerful, man. No, it it is powerful, and that's why I think he uses you know these images in scripture, like the images in scripture to teach us about something that happens once, but then it continues happening, right? Would be marriage, citizenship, and birth, you know. Like uh, I mean, this is in a moment I get married, but there's a lot that leads up to it. There's an introduction, there's dating, that's right, there's proposal, there's engagement, there's preparation, and then you get married. You know, thank thankfully I remember my wedding date. I'm sure you remember yours. Yes. But uh, I mean, a lot led up to it, and a lot's been after it, right? But it was a moment. The same with, you know, birth is conception, you know, and then gestation, and then birth, right, and then life after it, you know, and the same with citizenship. And so I I said this I become a Christian and I am becoming like Christ. In a moment, I become a Christian, but for a lifetime, I continue becoming like Christ. And so that's why Martin Luther said a Christian is simultaneously both righteous and yet sinful. Like in a moment, wow, my legal status changes. Yeah, I immediately become a citizen of heaven, I immediately become part of the bride of Christ, I immediately become a new life that'll last forever. All of that immediately changes, yet it continues. So I become a Christian in a moment, but for a lifetime I continue becoming like Christ. And so, yeah, it's a present you holiness, I and I really love without blemish and free from accusations. I do too. I mean, because when I look at myself, dude, it there's no way I I would say I'm without blemish, meaning I'm faultless. Yeah. And I'm free from nobody can accuse me of any sin. That's why Paul said, I'm the worst of sinners. Yeah. And then he told us, I still do things I don't want to do. And some of the things I want to do, I don't do. You know, so he's like, I'm not without sin. First John, if any one of you is without sin, right, he's a liar. Right. And so I think, you know, we see ourselves, we see our blemishes and our faults, and other people see them too. I mean, people see mine, I see theirs, you see yours, I see mine. But you know, this is how we see each other free from accusation. I think Paul got there, please.
SPEAKER_03I mean, I I'll just like I circled that in my notes today because I think that's so powerful. Uh how do you how does anybody learn to live free from accusation? I mean, what like you've pastored people for a long time. Like, what would you say to someone if they go, that seems too hard to believe. How how am I supposed to live like that? How do you get to that level where you can live free from the voice of the accuser and the the the voice of your own past?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, or on present. I mean, we can beat ourselves up every day and go, right? That's right. I'm not there. I mean, you know, the other day I was in a conversation with someone from our church, and they were sharing some brutal stuff in their life that they've done. And I always try to remind people, I'm like, hey, I'm not having a coffee with someone from our church. I'm like, hey, I I'm glad for us to share our stories, but I'm no one to confess to, you know. Um, I I don't absolve you of your guilt, you know. That's Jesus here. But I think sometimes people just need to go, but it's beautiful when people do that to just go, and I don't I don't see you any differently now that you told me that. Right. You know, sometimes I wish people wouldn't have told me this stuff, but it's not because I see them differently. Um one time someone told me some as they were stepping into some marriage and ministry, they just said, I I I I feel a need to share some stuff from my past. And I said, You don't, I don't need it from you. They're like, I need to. And um, and then maybe a month later, I saw them and they said something about it, and I said, What? Like I had forgotten about it. Yeah, and it amazed them. How can you forget that? And I'm like, I don't, I don't see you like that. Paul got so free. I love his verse in 1 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 3 and 4. I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court. Indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. I mean, Paul was saying, I don't really care what you think about me. He's like, he said, he literally, I care very little if I'm judged by you. Yeah. Or if I'm judged by any human court. And then he's like, I'm not even judging myself anymore. And then he like parenthetically said, but I could, and my conscience is clear, but that's not even what I'm depending upon to make me free. It's the Lord Jesus who has judged me and who has set me free. I mean, so the gospel is the only thing that can really set us free from approval of other people, which is so hard, especially if you get, you know, brutalized. Yeah. It's really hard. And it's really hard on yourself. And so Paul's like, I'm not even judging myself based on my own standards. It's just the gospel. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And he had a lot to be accused of. I mean, this guy has been openly guilty for killing Christians and, you know, breaking up churches. I mean, he had a lot of and yet this guy lived, Paul lived so free from all of that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03You know, and I think that uh there's somebody out listening today that needs to memorize that 1 Corinthians 4. That's right. Verse. That they need to commit that to memory. That, you know, or uh like the Psalms verse it says, uh that to not not to be afraid of the fear of man. The Lord is for me, I'll not be afraid of what man can do.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's right.
SPEAKER_03You know, that to get into that place where you can walk into a room and and not carry the past with you and not worry about what people think and go, you know what? I'm just I I went I went through the fire, God got me out, and I've been forgiven, and so I'm just gonna live that way.
SPEAKER_00You know, it's for freedom that Christ has set us free.
SPEAKER_03That's right.
SPEAKER_00I mean, it is a beautiful thing for people to live free. I mean, Jesus is trying to tell us over and over in scripture, man, you're free. Somehow Paul did not carry this burden of guilt all his life.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And he wasn't he didn't close his eyes to the fact to the things that he had done. He just allowed the freedom that Jesus gave him. He l he allowed him himself to live that way. Yeah. And I think it'd be a beautiful place for us to live that free. Verse 23, they throw the if in there, which is a scary thing, right? When it comes to the gospel, like the if, like we have to be real careful because our flesh wants to earn it. Yeah, that's right. And the gospel keeps telling us you can't earn it. So whenever we see an if in a conversation of the gospel, we have to remind ourselves this cannot be a condition for salvation that he's speaking of. Because there's no condition for our salvation. Like we didn't earn it and we can't keep it. I that's what Paul told the Galatians. He's like, Who stepped in here with you? Right. Because you know that you didn't earn your salvation, but you think you can keep it by your good works? Yeah. You think somehow that you got good enough to keep your salvation? Wow. So he's like, he said, you were running a good race, who cut in on you? That's what he told the Galatians. So I think the Colossians, he would want to make sure they knew. Don't start to think that you're holding on, you know, he he put me up here, but I got to hold on.
SPEAKER_03Right, right.
SPEAKER_00That's that's not he he gave me access to heaven, but I gotta hold on to me there.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's right. That's right.
SPEAKER_00And so he said, if you continue in your faith, the only way I can understand this, because our salvation is not conditional, it's by grace through faith in Christ alone. So it's this remaining just reveals that you are reconciled. Yeah, I wrote that down. It was really good, that's a great principle. You were not you were reconciled by Jesus Himself, not by remaining. You were reconciled by Jesus Himself, not by remaining. Us remaining with Jesus isn't what reconciles us. Jesus reconciled us. But remaining reveals that we were reconciled. That's why first John answered the question that people were asking. Like, if somebody left us, not the church, and I said today, people can leave churches. Back then they couldn't because there was nowhere else to go. In Colossae, you gotta work it out, man. You gotta work it out. You know, that would have been a better day, I think, to Pastor. But you were just crucified by the Romans. But you know, here he's like, I forgot where I was. Where am I?
SPEAKER_03Uh remaining doesn't reconcile me.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, he wasn't talking about remaining in in in that in that specific local church. He's talking about remaining in our faith in Christ. Right. Yeah, like we're we're not gonna walk away from our faith in Jesus. The parable that Jesus used for this, the three types of soil when he threw the seed, the seed was the gospel. Yeah, and he's like, one is rocky soil, it never took root at all. Meaning people heard it, so good, but they didn't receive it. The second one was they started to receive it, and the roots started to go in, but then when life came in, it choked it out. It never took root. And this is Jesus' parable, not mine. Right. But the third one was the gospel seed took root, uh it's the roots started to grow and it held on.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And that's the one that he was like, that's where the gospel really planted. It wasn't just you went to church and you know, a little bit of something got a little bit into you and you remembered some stuff, that wasn't it. The gospel took root in you, and that's why when life comes, when struggles and trials come into your life and you have been reconciled by Jesus, you remain. You you remain, even through the tough stuff, man. Yeah, you remain, and so you'll go through horrible seasons and horrible trials in life, because in this world you'll have trouble like Jesus promised. But if you've been reconciled, the roots are deep.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's right.
SPEAKER_00And you'll remain. So remaining uh is not how you were reconciled, but remaining reveals that you were reconciled.
SPEAKER_03And you just remind me by saying that Jesus' own words were, if you abide in me, I would abide. Like that's really remaining, is I'm just gonna I'm gonna stay with him. I'm gonna, I know he saved me, I know my citizenship is secure, but in this trial, I'm not gonna let go of it. I think you know, you were talking about the Gnostics, like the temptation here was to go, well, maybe they're right. That's right. Maybe maybe it Jesus' sacrifice wasn't physical, you know. And he's like, no, no, no. You stay, you stay, you remain in this. That's right. You hang on to it, you lean into it, you build your life on it. And I think you know, every commitment that we make to follow Jesus will be tested. Well said. And I think this is that's what he's talking about. Something like if you just you gotta lean into this, you know, it's gonna be tested. Yeah, these Gnostics are gonna test what you believe, so remain in it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, or your trial. I mean, a trial's gonna come. Uh, suffering's gonna test your faith.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_00And so you need to, if you remain, that doesn't mean that we don't question, we don't doubt. Right. Because if if it meant we can't question or doubt or wonder or wrestle or struggle, that oh, how how how firm do I have to hold on? What if I question a little bit? Or what if I back away a little bit, or you know, no? And so that's what Paul's saying. Remaining reveals that you've been reconciled. At the end of verse 23, yeah, this is the gospel that you heard and has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. This is the gospel. And the question I ask people today is do you know the gospel? I mean, how are we Christians who follow Jesus living on mission for him in this world, which is why we're still here, and we don't know how to articulate the gospel? I would bet, I would bet, Dave, most Christians have, well, statistically, they've never shared the gospel. And I bet they don't even know how to say it. That's why here we have goodgodgospel.com. We also put the icons. Right. We help people evangelistically, good God gospel conversations, but also the icons. I'm like, you don't need to use those unless you know how to share the gospel. But if they're a helpful tool, then use it, you know? Yeah. Like my son got the tattoo on his horse. That's pretty cool. Yeah. But I'm like, have we, whatever you need to do to know the gospel and share the gospel, Paul's like, this is the gospel. We need to be able to say, this is the gospel. And then he said, This is the gospel that's been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. Proclaimed, I I did I didn't say this, you know, in the sermon, but there's this phrase that people quote all the time share the gospel and when necessary, use words. And I'm like, share the gospel and when necessary, use words. I'm like, what? That's not in the Bible, it's actually anti-biblical. It is proclaimed, yeah, it is words, it is said, it is shared, now it's backed up with our life, yeah, and people do see it, but the gospel is is the proclamation of salvation by God's grace. Right. And so we need to proclaim it. And he said to every creature under heaven, like, it's not just for me and my kids. It's not just for people who go to church with me. In fact, it's actually for people who believe. It's it's for the it's for the unbeliever.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And it's for the person who's living in sin. It's for the people in verse 21. They're evil behavior. Oh, good, that's right. They're separated from God. You know, I mean, it's for those people because that's where we were when we got the gospel. It's for people who are enemies of God.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And somehow, as Christians, we're like, if you're an enemy of my God, I'm not getting the gospel to you. I'm like, those are the very people that we need to get the gospel to. And you know, I I jumped into this for a minute, but I'm like, dude, I I'm as patriotic, I think, as you can get. I'm pretty, you know, like wearing my socks and boxers and voting and making sure everybody I know vote. But dude, if somehow I've ostraced the pe there are people that I'm voting against. There are there are religious things right now that I'm voting against. Of course. Yeah. There are movements in society that I'll vote against whenever I get a chance. But if I separate them trying to get the gospel to them, like I don't want them in politics. I don't want them in positions of power or influence. Right. You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_03That's right.
SPEAKER_00And I mean, nobody on either side is ever perfect, but I'm just saying, like, there are ideologies and religious movements that I vote against.
SPEAKER_03That's right.
SPEAKER_00But if I am against them getting the gospel, my lens of the gospel is real broken. Yeah, that's right. And so that's why Paul said here, man, this is proclaimed to every creature under heaven. And if I say though I can, I don't want to say it right now, but those people who believe that, yeah, I vote against them, but I want to get the gospel to them. That's right. You know, or these people who live this lifestyle, I'm voting against this. Yeah. But I want to get the gospel to them.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00And so I think as Christians, we we can't bifurcate, we can't polarize our political. We I hold my political beliefs very strongly. And I'm gonna vote and tell people to vote and get out there against these things and for these things, but I want my gospel to be there with these people.
SPEAKER_03That's right.
SPEAKER_00And I think we've got to be careful as Christians to not separate the gospel.
SPEAKER_03I mean, I think that's a great distinction because these days people hate the system and they hate the people in the system.
SPEAKER_01That's right.
SPEAKER_03You know, and they they totally write people off. And we're saying, wait a minute, we don't agree with the system or the policy.
SPEAKER_00Or I don't agree with those people.
SPEAKER_03You know, we don't agree with their stance, but we still see them as people that need to hear the gospel. They still see them as people that need to hear about the love of Jesus, and we can't ever forget that. We can't just throw people out with the systems because we don't like the system.
SPEAKER_00You know what helps us remember that is when we remember I was an alien. That's right. I was an enemy, yeah, and I was only marked by my evil behavior. Yeah. Like when I see myself as one of those people who only by God's grace did verse 22 happen to me. The but now that changed me from evil enemy, alien to uh holy, without blemish, free from the only thing that changed me was the butt now of Christ reconciliation.
SPEAKER_03That's right.
SPEAKER_00And so for us to not have compassion and want to get the gospel to them, it reveals to us that we think we've earned it or we've kept it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's right.
SPEAKER_00That's not salvation by grace, man. Right.
SPEAKER_03That's right.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and and then Paul, I'll finish this up. So good, man. The end of verse 23, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. Yep. Becoming a servant of the gospel, this is why you live, you know. I mean, if we're living, if we live for pleasure or possessions or power, it doesn't mean that we shouldn't have pleasure or we shouldn't have possessions, or maybe God won't give us some position of influence. But if that's why we live, it would be much better to go to heaven. And so we have a purpose here, actually, that's bigger than all that. We have a purpose bigger than pleasure, purpose bigger than possessions, purpose bigger than a platform. And Paul said, he said, This is the gospel in verse 23, and I have become its servant. Yeah. Like I exist, I'm living here to serve the gospel. What a great, what a great mark on my life. Yeah, on our lives. I now I'm here, I have become a servant of the gospel.
SPEAKER_03Well, I mean, I I think this is where I I wanted you to talk uh you filled that out today when you said this is my hope, this is the things I really want to see happen. And I think you really you bared your heart in terms of what you hope for, not just our church, but I think for all believers. So I just wanted you to talk more about, you know, wanting to see people think of themselves as servants and missionaries of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, I don't know what people are waiting even if you're in a church where the gospel is moving mightily, uh hopefully that lasts forever. Maybe it'll last for a time, maybe it won't. Maybe your church go up and down through seasons, which most churches do. Sure. Every church in history where there was a mighty move of the gospel, it stopped in that church. There's not a church on the planet right now where a mighty move of God started two or three and and that it stayed localized in that church, and that church continued forever. I mean, it didn't happen in Colossae. Wow. The church isn't there, it didn't happen in Galatia, didn't happen in Court, didn't even happen in Ephesus. It's just ruins there. Now, the threat of the gospel may be through it, but even if we're in a if we're in a local church where the gospel is moving powerfully, still we have to make sure that we're individually becoming a servant of the gospel. I think there are plenty of Christians who just go, God's moving big in this church, and I go to that church for a little while. Um, and that's I love that the gospel is moving powerfully there.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00But that doesn't mean that you're a servant of the gospel just because you go to a church where God's moving powerfully right now. Wow. And so whether you're in a church where it's a beautiful, obvious move of God right now, or whether you go to a church where it doesn't seem like God's doing much right now, individually, we have to become a servant of the gospel. And so I do think there are Christians who just ride the coattails of what God's doing in a church and they never become a servant of the gospel. Wow. And so for all of us, I mean, Paul's in prison. He knows some of what's going on out there. He's not as much a part of it as he wanted to be or would be or was. But man, even in prison, he's like, I'm a servant of the gospel. And I I think every Christian, surely I want this in our in our local church. Yeah. But I w I I just I just think it'd be a beautiful thing for every Christian to go, I'm gonna become a servant of the gospel. Yeah. Not just a servant of my local church where God's moving, but I'm gonna I'm gonna live my whole life to serve the gospel. Right.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, you're not talking about volunteering at a church. You're talking about something greater. Well, you know, we're not just gonna be able to do that. It may include that.
SPEAKER_00No, you're right. I mean, it may include, of course, I mean, we're all meant to serve the local body. Right. But that's it, that's a that's a that's a downstream consequence of something that happened. Right. Like the source of it becomes I'm a servant of the gospel. So uh, you know, I wrote, some of us are servants of baseball and hunting and video games, and and our job and money and kids and all these other things. None of those are bad in moderation. I mean, baseball and hunting and but they're bad masters. And we use the word master because Paul said servant here. And like, if my job is my master, well, then the gospel's not my master. So Paul's like, I'm a servant of the gospel. That's why I use that illustration of Bo from our church, who was like, I'm a missionary, and I'm like, uh, what? Yeah, but I'm like, no, that's this dude's the real deal.
SPEAKER_03Like tell like expound on that story, like you talked about.
SPEAKER_00Well, this guy, you know, Bo comes to our church. We'll say his last name, but you and I both know him very well. Yeah, he comes to our church when I first met him. Yeah, first day there. I'm like, hey, what how what brought you here? And he's like, This church. This is why I moved here. Like, what? I wanted to move here. Yeah. For what God's doing, I think God called me to be a part of it. I'm like, that's incredible. And you know, last year he moved out of town, which uh killed me. Yeah. Uh when God takes great people. I don't, I'm not sad every time somebody moves or leaves, but when a lot of people move or leave, like Bo, I was really sad. And um I'm like, tell me more. And he said, Well, you're gonna ask me my job, but I just want to tell you like I'm a missionary. I I may work at this place, yeah, uh, but actually I'm a missionary at this place. And this this place is gonna give me money to take care of my family, but actually my money is gonna be used for the gospel. And so, like his whole mindset was wherever I go, whatever I'm doing. Uh yeah, so did he serve in our church? Of course. But that was just a downstream consequence of up here. He was like, I'm a servant of the gospel, man. Yeah. Like this is this is who I am. So wherever I go, work, church, uh, I'm I'm on mission. I'm a I'm a missionary, I'm a servant of the gospel.
SPEAKER_03And we need we need believers that will think about their life in that terms, that I'm on mission, that I'm uh I'm not just here for myself. You know, I I went to uh the guy we're talking about, he won an award for being the top in his the his field, and I went down and saw him get it. I remember back in the day. And uh, but at the same time, he the building that and uh he worked in, he discipled at least one or two people on each level of that of that building. Yeah, he had somebody who he discipled on every floor while being excellent at his job, that's it while being number one in his field. That's it. You know, and I think that's the perfect description of uh being on mission. Like you're not just uh you're not suit you're not a Jesus, you're not a weird Jesus person. That's right. You're you're you just see Jesus integrated into your whole life. That's it. And you're you look for good God gospel conversations and you look for people you can pour into while uh doing well at your job.
SPEAKER_00Uh I have become a servant of the gospel. I mean, Paul's words. This is the gospel that you heard and of which I have become a servant. Yeah. And so every Christian should say when we read these verses, have I become a servant of the gospel? And that doesn't mean that you're gonna quit your job. In fact, we don't need many people doing what we're doing, we need more people out there like Bo, yeah doing what they're doing in every place they work in different spheres of influence. Become a servant of the gospel. And I think when a massive group of people are localized together in a local church who become a servant of the gospel, then you will see an obvious move of God. Yeah, I believe it. And so, and I I would hate for people to go to a place where there's an obvious move of God and just ride on the coattails of everyone else who would become a servant of it. Because I think there are plenty of people who do that. I'm just gonna move to this church because there's an obvious move of God. I would say, wherever you are right now, become a servant of the gospel and pray for an obvious move of God. That's what we are here. And we started a long time ago.
SPEAKER_03That's right. And pray for your friends to come to know Christ. And that's it. You know, one of the things we did uh with our my family today was I had uh when we took communion, I had them go around and share the name of at least one person in their work world that they know is not a believer. And I said, Okay, we're we're gonna remember the power of the gospel with these elements. That's really good. We're gonna ask God to give us opportunities to have a conversation. I mean, uh to me, like I think we gotta help people to go, it's really it really is about the gospel. And it really does matter if I have these conversations or if I know these people, if I'm if I get a moment where the door opens, that we start to be to be on mission means you're really be to be on fire.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right. Like you care about. I went to a restaurant this week where somebody from our church works, and there are two people that came up to me and were introduced to me because this person has now been sharing the gospel with them, bringing them to church. Like they're new or not yet believers, you know. But this person's like, I'm on mission. I'm a servant of the gospel here. While I'm while I'm serving other people, I'm a servant of the gospel.
SPEAKER_03A beautiful passage. Thanks for the conversation. So good, man. Thanks for your insight, man. Like you, yeah, you found a lot of nuance in these texts that I think will that should make people that are listening think about, oh, I like this idea of just riding a coattails of a church that has the obvious move of God. Like, I think that's where a lot of people are instead of saying, I'm I'm actually gonna be a part of it. Yeah, I'm not just gonna go along for the ride. That's it. Right. I'm not gonna be a spectator, I'm gonna be a servant.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's right.
SPEAKER_03That's good.
SPEAKER_00Hey, thanks for watching this. I hope it was good for you and encouraging for you. If it was, like it, share it, subscribe to it, let other people know about it. Thanks for taking time to listen and watch. You're great, you're loved. See you soon.
